Troubled Waters (Oceans of Love Book 1)

by Nia Arthurs

  I would love to hear from you at corcorozal@yahoo.com

  You can also follow me on IG: Nia Arthurs @nia_bks and Twitter: @niaarthurs

  Other Books by this Author

  Available on Amazon…

  The Taming Series

  Taming Mr. Jerkface

  Taming Mr. Charming

  Taming Mr. Know-it-all

  Taming Mr. Darcy

  The Seven Realms Series

  Genesis

  Revelations

  The Tree of Knowledge (coming soon)

  Love & Reggae

  Amid the Noise

  Count Me In

  Buffalo Soldier

  Confessions of A Church Girl

  Glass Houses

  Fitting In

  Standing Out

  Standalone

  Whiter Than Snow

  Married By Science

  Tsea

  Fool Me Never

  Audrey’s Choice

  Scarlet

  From the Stars

  River’s Journey

  That Was Then

  Energy

  Becoming Rachel

  Desperate for a Date

  Subscribe to Love

  Guardian Pains

  Love In Many Shades Series

  Cece & David

  Cece & David 2

  Cece & David 3

  Cece & David 4

  Boyfriend By Series

  Boyfriend By Blackmail

  Boyfriend By Midnight

  Boyfriend By Design

  Lovesick Series

  Play

  Dance

  Trust

  Love vs. Loyalty Series

  Where Love Lies

  Where Truth Lies

  Where Trust Lies

  MANY WATERS

  An Oceans of Love Novel

  Things are changing for Kelly Banner. She’s rekindled her relationship with her grandmother and is diving eagerly into a time of intense self-reflection. The only problem? She’s still deliriously attracted to her boss.

  Kelly knows chasing after Benjamin Levy after all they’ve been through would be foolish.

  Can she fight her instincts or trust them one more time?

  MANY WATERS is coming soon to Amazon. In the meanwhile, read on for an excerpt from this sweet BWAM story:

  WHERE LOVE LIES

  Chapter 1

  ₪₪₪₪₪₪

  Breana Moore was not a woman given to anger. She could clutch her fists and tuck her fury inside of herself, folding the ends neatly and stowing it away until she was able to process the emotion through the lens of maturity and cool-headedness.

  After all, with a mother like hers, she had no other choice but to calmly accept her lot. The world was a broken, unfair place and Breana had an uncanny habit of finding herself at the wrong end of the stick.

  Such is life. That was her motto, and it had kept her sane and hopeful through less than appetizing circumstances. She expected the worst, and so usually had an air-tight grip on her control.

  But today… today, the anger bubbled up like a pot of cow foot soup set to boiling. Today, her fight-or-flight instincts screamed at her, pleading for her to plant her foot so far down Cady Barrington’s throat that the girl coughed up her worn black pumps.

  “Cady, it wasn’t my responsibility to write the reports for the Museum of Belize project. You assigned that to Leslie, remember? Leslie Wade? Your best friend?”

  Three weeks ago, the young Cady Barrington hired her rather incompetent goon-in-waiting, excuse me, treasured friend to join the marketing team at Barrington and Co. It was a move everyone in the office whispered about, but no one dared to address.

  Breana hadn’t bothered to join the gossip. She understood that Cady had been offered her management position because of her connection to the owner of the firm and thus nepotism didn’t faze the accomplished debutante.

  She had no problems with the privileged helping out one of their own, but after weeks of picking up after both Cady and Leslie, Breana was on edge, and Cady yelling at her because someone else hadn’t done their job was pushing her right over the cliff.

  “Leslie was busy,” Cady said, her chin raised and her scrawny nose two inches away from the ceiling. “And how many times have I told you to stop calling me ‘Cady’ at work? It’s ‘Boss’ or ‘Mrs. Lorde’.”

  Breana scoffed. This woman had passed the City of Reality and had set up shop in Delusionville. The ‘Lorde’ Cady was supposedly married to was Trenton Fitzgerald Lorde, the C.E.O. of Barrington and Co’s biggest client and the marketing team’s secret office heartthrob.

  Trenton had visited the office twice before and each time, Cady unabashedly threw herself at him. While the other ladies swooned with jealousy, Breana observed their interactions with a practiced eye. It didn’t take much to see that Trenton Lorde was all business, and Cady’s interest was an annoyance rather than a dream-come-true.

  Breana found it oddly satisfying to behold someone of the opposite sex slamming the brakes on Cady’s handsy approach, and though she wasn’t involved with Trenton’s case and so hadn’t spoken a word to him, she respected him immensely.

  Enough to scoff at the idea of the two being married.

  “Did you just… did you just roll your eyes at me?” Cady snapped, tossing her straight, brown hair over her shoulder. Her pink lips protruded and she jutted her hips to the left, pummeling her fists into the waist of her pencil skirt. “I find that very disrespectful, Breana.”

  “My apologies,” Breana said, unable to smother her sarcasm.

  Fake eyelashes fluttering, Cady waved her arms. “You’re lucky we gave you this job. I don’t know any other company that would have the patience or the time to invest in someone like you.”

  Breana’s spine turned rigid and she bowed her head to shade the anger in her expression. Cady interpreted her humbled stance as permission to revel in her authority.

  “If you don’t like what we do here, there are plenty of other candidates standing in line.”

  Unable to hold her tongue, Breana glanced up. “Look, as much as I respect that you’re my boss, I’m the hardest worker on this team. Don’t threaten me.”

  Cady shook her head and lowered her voice to a quiet, condescending level. “With that attitude of yours, it’s no wonder I keep hearing complaints about you.”

  “What complaints and who made them?”

  “That’s not the point. Here at Barrington and Co, we appreciate a good work attitude. You’ve got to learn to take one for the team.”

  Fiery comebacks flew through Breana’s brain in rapid-fire succession. She breathed deeply, her nostrils flaring as she strained to keep a lid on her thoughts. Thankfully, a worker called Cady away before she could let any job-threatening words fly free.

  Using the distraction, Breana made her escape and walked determinedly away from the main office.

  “Where are you going?” Cady called, her long legs eating the distance between her worker and the corridor. “I’m not finished with you yet!”

  Breana huffed. Her skin was a solid blend of mocha brown, but she was sure her entire face was tomato-paste red. Blood rushed through her ears and called her to fall back on violence.

  It will feel so good to punch her. Just once…

  Straining to curb her lesser instincts, Breana hastened her footsteps and turned the corridor, spotting the flash of grey pants and the fluttering of a nicely tailed coat in the distance. The flurry of movement disappeared as the owner of the suit tumbled into the storage closet just before her sight.

  Deciding her co-worker had the right idea, she thrust the door aside and slipped into the narrow space, her chest sweeping the fabric of the man’s back. With her mind caught up in keeping her sanity and her job, Breana brushed aside the close proximity and locked the door behind her.

  “Breana?” Cady’s voice came from just outside the hideout. “Where did she disappear to?”

  Praying that her boss
didn’t open the storage closet, which would not end well for either of them, she breathed a sigh of relief when the clop, clop of Cady’s heels disappeared down the corridor.

  “Thank God,” Breana whispered, placing a hand over her chest. The thump of her heart pressed against her fingertips. “I was this close to exploding back there.”

  Silence.

  Curious, Breana narrowed her eyes and took a better look at the man’s back—which was easy to do given she was mostly pressed against it. The fabric was nice, if a bit thick and his scent was expensive.

  “Excuse me,” she said, tapping her finger against his back. He stiffened in response, further piquing Breana’s interest. “Do you work downstairs?”

  He coughed. “No.”

  Something about his voice was vaguely familiar, and Breana craned her neck to get a look at his face. He turned his chin away from her and stuffed his head between the shelves holding the cleaning products.

  “Okay…” Breana said slowly. “Let’s wait a few more minutes before getting out of here.”

  Nothing.

  “This is kind of cramped,” Breana added, uncomfortable with the stillness. “Let me see if I can make more space.” She took a step back, her heels crushing the hairy ends of a mop. The stick fell with the certainty of a gavel and struck the top of her head. “Ow!”

  “Are you alright?” the man asked, turning his face so that she could see his profile.

  “Yeah. I’m… fine.” The words drifted into nothingness as she stared at the outline of his strong forehead, sloping nose and bust-like jaw line.

  Breana rubbed her eyes. Shuffled her feet. Peered closer at her closet roommate. She must be mistaken. There was no way she was sharing such intimate quarters with Trenton Lorde, Cady’s lifelong obsession and the marketing team’s top pick for the office Bachelor of the Year.

  “I should go,” Trenton said, hiding his face with a raised palm and moving toward the door. Breana reacted on instinct and grabbed his arm. He froze and she quickly dropped her hold, though her gaze did not falter.

  “Trenton Lorde?” she gaped. “What are you… are you hiding from Cady too?”

  He spun to face her, his dark brown eyes narrowing with pride even as his cheeks heated with embarrassment. Stunned, Breana blinked at him, anticipating an explanation for his presence inside the storage closet.

  Trenton’s eyes dipped to the shelf behind her. “It’s… complicated.”

  She folded her arms across her chest. “Try me.”

  “I—” he faltered and his gaze hardened. “I don’t have to explain myself to you.”

  Shocked by his rudeness, Breana’s temper heated. She jerked her head toward the door and lifted her eyebrows, silently daring him to prove himself and leave.

  Trenton flapped his lapels and jerked his chin higher into the air. He reached his hand out to turn the knob and exit the storage closet when Cady’s voice bounced through the hallway.

  “Leslie, have you seen Trenton? He was supposed to come by to discuss the details of his campaign with Dad.”

  At the sound of her voice, Trenton violently lurched back.

  “What are you…?” Breana hissed, but was cut off when he darted out and covered her mouth with his palm. Giving her a look of warning, Trenton Lorde pulled her against his chest.

  “Don’t. Say. Anything,” he muttered. Trapped in his arms, all she could do was nod.

  Chapter 2

  ₪₪₪₪₪₪

  Trenton removed his hand from the woman’s mouth and ducked his head. He was embarrassed that someone had caught him slinking away from Cady, but his pride wasn’t wounded enough to proclaim his whereabouts and so turn all his efforts into ashes.

  The woman shifted, her bun brushing his chin and filling his nose with the scent of coconuts. He arched away from her and cursed his timing. She probably thought he was a lunatic. Not that it mattered. He would make up an excuse that would salvage his ego as soon as this crisis was over.

  For now, Trenton waited for the storm to pass.

  “That’s so weird,” he heard Cady’s voice as she stopped directly in front of their hiding place. “The secretary told me he came up a few minutes ago.”

  Trenton narrowed his eyes. Of course, Cady would have her workers spying on him. He pulled at the collar of his striped tie. Though the band had loosened, the tightness in his throat remained.

  “It’s been such a long time since I’ve seen him. I know I saw him last week, Leslie, but it’s not enough. Can you believe it will be our twentieth anniversary since we first saw each other? I’m this close to a wedding!”

  Trenton heard someone snort and looked down to find his prison mate covering her mouth with her fingers. He widened his eyes and shook his head. Though the smile remained on her lips, the woman nodded in understanding.

  “What do you mean? Daddy totally approves of a marriage with Trenton. I’m his baby girl, remember? I have him wrapped around my little finger…”

  The rest of the conversation drowned beneath the clop of Cady’s heels. Soon, her voice faded. Trenton peeked through the slats in the door to double check and sighed loudly when he found the corridor clear.

  “Wow,” the woman said and Trenton’s head whipped down to take her in. The shadows kept him from fully seeing her face. She was small, her forehead barely reaching his chest and her eyes were sharp, he was certain of it. The rest of her was bathed in obscurity.

  “What?”

  “I thought I had it bad, but you’re doomed to spend the rest of your life with her.”

  “I’m not getting married to Cady.”

  “Sure,” she patted his arm patronizingly, “and I’m not working under my childhood bully because I have bills to pay.”

  “She was your childhood bully?”

  The woman tilted her head as a thoughtful look crossed her face. “You can say that. I prefer the term ‘emotional terrorist’, but I’m told bully is more acceptable.”

  Trenton ran a hand through his brown hair, the silky strands falling back into place as if drawn by magnets. He didn’t know what to say. Cady had never been anything but sickeningly sweet to him. Her only downfall was her inability to take a hint.

  “I just wish I could get back at her once, you know? Make up for all the times she pushed me around in one fell swoop. Maybe things would be a little easier.”

  “From my experience, revenge is a waste of energy.”

  “I don’t want revenge,” she said, her eyes spitting fire. “I want justice.”

  Trenton wondered what Cady had done to draw this woman’s ire. If she was such a manic boss, why didn’t the girl quit?

  The suggestion danced on the tip of his tongue, but he chose to keep silent, wisely sensing that his opinion would not be welcome.

  “What about you?” she asked, leaning against the shelves and getting comfortable. “Why don’t you want to join the prestigious Barrington family? It can’t be because of Cady. She treats you like some kind of god.”

  Trenton shrugged, surprised by the sense of camaraderie that had blossomed between himself and this stranger. Instead of shame, he felt… understood. Though they were hiding for different reasons, they both had legitimate concerns warranting such extreme actions.

  “I’m simply not interested,” he said.

  “Oh,” she nodded and glanced away. “Are you—?”

  “No, I am not gay.” He slanted her a look. Trenton found it slightly amusing that people always questioned his sexuality on the heels of his rejection of Cady Barrington. Cady was a beautiful girl, but she wasn’t the end-all of femininity.

  “I wasn’t going to ask that,” she said. “Are you still going to your meeting? As fun as it is to chat, I have to get back to work.”

  “My meeting?” Thrown off-guard by his incorrect assumption, Trenton cleared his throat. “Yes, I should go.”

  “Great.” The woman swept her arms out, gesturing for him to open the door first. Trenton took a hesitant step for
ward and pushed the knob just a smudge. Through the crack, he peered outside to ensure he would not be spotted and turned back to the woman.

  “Wait a few minutes after I leave and then come out.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t want anyone to see us leaving this storage closet together.”

  The woman huffed and pushed his arm. “Fine. Hurry up and go.”

  He stumbled out and whipped his head back to glare at her. She slammed the door shut in response. Straightening his jacket, Trenton sauntered down the hallway to the Director’s corner office and knocked on the door.

  “Come in!” a nasally voice said.

  Trenton walked into the spacious room. Floor to ceiling windows offered an unobstructed view of the Caribbean Sea. A mahogany desk sat in the middle of the room and three wingback chairs faced the tiny man seated behind the table.

  “Mr. Barrington,” Trenton greeted. “I’m sorry for being late.”

  “That’s okay, Trenton.” Holden Barrington waved away the sentiment. “What’s a little tardiness between family?”

  Though the term made him uncomfortable, Trenton wrote it off. Mr. Barrington and Trenton’s father were close family friends His company’s relationship with Barrington and Co. spread through generations. It was a collaboration that served both families well.

  Launching right into the meat of the matter, Trenton discussed the details of the project that Mr. Barrington had agreed to oversee. Though he personally believed that his company would save a lot more money if they canceled the marketing subcontractors and did their own advertising, he acknowledged that Mr. Barrington was very good at his job.

  “Sounds perfect,” Mr. Barrington said, when the details had been hammered out. He leaned back in the chair and twirled the ends of his moustache.

  “Thank you, sir.”

  “You know, young man, you remind me of your father.”

  Trenton stiffened, but forced a smile.

  “Edward was a go-getter, just like you. But he never would have made it if not for your mother. When he married Lorraine, that’s when her connections caused his business to take off.”